John W. Smith

As printed in 1910

JOHN WILLIAM SMITH.

Coming to us from the remote pioneer days, so unlike in every respect those of the present, John William Smith, one of Green township’s honored residents, should be given conspicuous mention in the history of Nodaway county for diverse reasons, partly because of his long record of unassailable relations with his fellow men and partly owing to the prominent part he has played in the development of local conditions. He was born in what was Green township, now part of Monroe township, this county, in 1849. His parents were William Vinson and Jane Lockhart (Holt) Smith, the former born in Tennessee, the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Smith, and the latter born in North Carolina. She was a sister of William R. Holt, whose sketch, which contains her ancestry and her early history, appears elsewhere in this work. John W. Smith was one of nine brothers and two sisters; two of the sons died in infancy; the others were: Elmer died when four years old; Redmond died when about three years old: Michael Holt married Betsy Nichols, and his death occurred on December 9, 1887, at the age of forty-seven years, leaving one daughter; Lewis Bowan died unmarried on April 1 2, 1904, when sixty-one years old; Willard Payton, who married Eva Nash, who has borne him five children, lives at Delta, Colorado; Sterling

Price lives at Broken Bow, Nebraska, is married to Maggie Young and has two sons, Floyd and Francis; John William, of this review; Elizabeth Ellen married John D. McDonald, a near neighbor of Mr. Smith; she is now deceased; Sarah Catherine Smith married John D. Hess, lives at Loveland, Colorado, has five children, three sons and two daughters, Emma, Carrie, Jesse, Willard and Charley; Mr. Hess died April 2, 1908.

The father of John W. Smith, of this review, came to Missouri about 1835 and located in Andrew county, where he lived until about 1846, then moved into what is now Monroe township, Nodaway county. He bought some land from another early settler there, but got most of his farm from the government. He was a Mason. His death occurred in Skidmore on January 24, 1892; his wife died March 25. 1892, and both are buried in the Masonic cemetery at Skidmore.

John W. Smith grew to maturity in Monroe township and lived there un til he was twenty-three years old. He was married in 1872 to Barbara Jane Bowman, a native of this county, born and reared north of Quitman; she was the daughter of Jonathan and Rebecca Bowman and was a sister of Henry Bowman, whose sketch appears herein. In 1871 John W. Smith purchased the farm where he still lives, five miles southeast of Quitman, where he now has one hundred and eighty acres of excellent and well-kept land. He has lived here ever since 1872.

Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith; Roy died when two years old; William Vincent married Clara Rebecca Owens and lives one-half mile west of the home place, has had two children, Ferris, who died in infancy, and Helen Barbara; Mary May married William Watson and lives in South Dakota; Rebecca J. L. married Riley Long and lives five miles west of the home place, has one son, Leslie Alvin: Lucretia (usually called Lulu) married Sam Clark McGinnis and lives two miles west of Skidmore, and has two children, Hazel Barbara and Edna May.

The mother of these children was called to her rest on September 22. 1896, and on February 28, 1907, Mr. Smith married Mrs. Rose (Abbey) Barker, widow of A. C. Barker. She was born in Black Hawk county, Iowa, and is the daughter of William Henry and Charlotte Abbey. Her father died in 1881, her mother having preceded him to the grave in 1880. William Henry Abbey was born in England in 1820, and when eight years old came to America with his parents. William Wallace Abbey and wife. Mrs. Smith's mother, Charlotte (Orton) Abbey, was reared near Painesville, Lake county, Ohio, in which state her parents settled upon coming from the state of New York, when young, and there, near Painesville, were married and lived several years, later coming to Page county, Iowa, where they lived until 1868. Subsequently, they came to Nodaway county, Missouri, the father, Silvil Orton, dying on May 8, 1881, and the mother on April 29,

Mrs. Smith is one of a family of six girls and one boy, namely: Sarah Jane, who married Franklin Carver, of this county, he being now deceased, leaving one daughter, Alwilda; Mary Minnie married C. W. Dwight, after whose death she married William Sanders, and they live in this county; Charles F. married Luella Veach, and after her death he married Etta Yates and has one son and one daughter, he being her second husband, and they are living on the parents' old home place in this county; Emma Ann, who lives in Elmo, is married to J. J. Snodderlev, has two sons living and one daughter deceased; Rose A., now Mrs. Smith, first married A. C. Barker, August 15, 1889, and to them were born two sons, Ray Edgar and Howard Lewis, both at home with their mother, their father having died December 16, 1903; Lillie M. married Victor Cain and lives near her father's old home in this county, and they are the parents of four daughters and two sons; Carrie Belle died when three months old.

As printed in Past and present of Nodaway County, Missouri (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.